2021, May 29th

On Saturday, May 29^th we will hold our annual flag placement.  This year we need to operate a little differently than past years.  Right now we are limited to 250 people, because of COVID BSA and State requirements, mask wearing and 6 feet apart (*).  I will watch for COVID policy changes and will share the information ASAP. 

 In addition, the ceremony we usually hold, will be a celebration of life for our long time scouter and friend who passed in November.  Chuck Roydhouse, a wounded WWII war hero.  Chuck Roydhouse, a Scouter for over 50 years with an extremely prolific record of service in The Capitol District of the Baltimore Area Council.  It is my sad duty to note that Chuck “went home”, as we Scouters say, on November 13 of last year, as you may already know.  (If you did not know, I am sorry to bring you this news in this manner.)  A memorial ceremony for Chuck is being planned for Saturday, May 29 and a number of people including myself are reaching out to find people who knew Chuck and let them know what is being planned.

IMPORTANT:  EVERYONE PLANNING ON ATTENDING , NEEDS TO LET ME KNOW.  Because of Covid-19, we have a maximum number of attendees permitted by the Cemetery (*) and I am held accountable.   

The ceremony will be held at the Maryland Veterans Cemetery in Crownsville (*), off of MD 178 Generals Highway at 8:00 AM on May 29 and will last up to 20 minutes, all outdoors (*).  This is in conjunction with the Memorial Day flag placement program, that follows immediately, and is conducted by Scouts and Scouters of The Capitol District, Four Rivers District also with personnel from area Girl Scouts and others.  This activity is conducted every year by The Capitol District, and was started over 20 years ago by Chuck himself.  Chuck's remains will be interred at the Cemetery with military honors on Friday, the day before.

 Arrival at the cemetery gates is before 7:30 AM when the gate to the Cemetery is opened.  The gate will not open until 7:30 and many people will be gathering to enter.  Ceremony staff will be present to organize people for entry (*).  No Mask, No Entry.  Units need to be prepared, anyone turned away is their responsibility.  They will not be able to enter the cemetery.  (There may also be a smaller number of people present for other purposes and ceremony staff will accommodate them.)

There will be a procession walking into the cemetery.  Individual units need to line up on the right side of the gate, “all together, in groups of 10, wearing masks, 6 ft apart, with unit flags in front of them. (*)  Any family member joining them needs to be in their group of 10.  Processions will be moving forward behind the fire engines entering promptly at  7:30 am when gates open.  If you have more then 10 in your unit, that is ok, we just need to know how many and just break them into a visible group of 10 each (*). Units need to keep a log including each unit attendee and family members including their phone#. (*)   We start at 7:30, participants need to be punctual, with their unit, in Class A, or will be left behind while following COVID-19 practices.

AACO bagpipers will lead with emergency vehicles next in line.  Then registered scout units, wearing masks (*), with their unit flags in groups of 10- 6 feet apart (*).  Units are responsible to carry hand sanitizer for their unit and for sanitizing their flag staffs surfaces. (*) 

 Continuing to follow Baltimore Area Council’s Covid-19 Mitigation Plan:

Only participant(s) and driver shall travel to the meeting location. (*)   Only family members shall travel to meeting location in the car.  Ride sharing is strongly discouraged as if one member in the car fails the medical check, all members in that car will be disqualified from participating and sent home with the driver.  A log for the event must be kept with each unit, to include name and phone number, with all the names of all attends are recorded.  I need the name and cell phone number of each unit participating.  That will be shared with our ceremonial team. 

Access to the Cemetery can be located on Google Maps and is off of MD 178 Generals Hwy, turning onto Sunset Beach Road at a traffic light.  There is a Wawa store (closed) at this intersection.  The Cemetery is approximately 2 miles down Sunset Beach Road.

Units need to park at Arden Sports Field and be in line starting at 7 am. Parking for most will be at the Arden Park baseball field across Sunset Beach Road from the Cemetery and with its entrance about 500 ft. further down Sunset Beach Road.  When the Cemetery gate opens at 7:30, it is about 0.3 mi. (about 1600 ft. or 750 steps) and a 15 minute leisurely walk to the ceremony site.  Those not able to walk, need to line up at the Arden Sports Field, and will be led in by the ceremonial team behind the walking procession.  Ceremonial team will provide guidance where to park once entering the cemetery. 

Upon arrival, registered units need to carry a 8x10 Troop sign, that says BSA, to show they are registered (*), then they can fold and put their sign in their pocket after they enter the cemetery gate.  There may be other units from other Districts trying to enter who are not aware of our procedure.  They will fall in line behind our units that have registered.

At 7:30, the AACO Fire Department’s pipers will lead our procession, then the emergency vehicles. 

In Chucks Honor, there will be an Annapolis Fire Department Truck, a paramedic vehicle, Trucking 4Troops vehicle, and other organizations, American Legion, VFM, Elks, Masons to name a few. 

The ceremony will be held at the Avenue of Flags.  Units will line up in groups of 10, 6 feet apart at a marked area.  (*) that will be announced as we get close to the ceremony.  I need to process their registration before I can assign spaces.

After the ceremony, 1 individual from each unit, needs to approach the flag box.  A volunteer will hand each unit member a bundle of flags for them to distribute to their unit.  Flags will be sanitized several weeks before flag placement and kept in the containers in storage under lock and key.  No one other than the 1 designated unit member can approach the flag box. (*)  Once the unit receives the flags, members are free to start flag placement and are the responsibility of each unit for conforming to COVID-19 policy, no groups more than 10, wearing masks and 6 feet apart. (*).

Units need to register with me as soon as possible with an “estimated count at this time”.   

 AACO police auxiliary will be our traffic control. 

 Senator Reilly is our guest speaker as well as various other groups.

I will send a draft program for your review as soon as it’s close to being final. 

 Please let me know if I missed anything or if you need further information or assistance.

 As always, I appreciate your thoughts and response.

 Kind Regards,

 Tj Furlong

tjfurlong@outlook.com

Below is for 2022

Saturday, May 28th, 2022, at 8 am.

Crownsville Veterans Memorial Cemetery

Sunrise Beach Rd, Crownsville MD
Google Map

Over 21,000 Veterans and their family interred.

The cemetery staff will be in place and the gates will open at 7:30 and not before.

Anne Arundel Police will manage traffic on Sunrise Beach Rd.

We will have Scouts assisting with traffic and parking on the cemetery grounds.

They are very efficient so there will be plenty of time to park before the ceremony starts.

There is NO parking on Sunrise Beach Rd. - Cars will be ticketed!
Safety is our first concern.  That is a main road and we do not want anyone to get hurt.

Important Notes:

The Flags will be in plastic bins placed around the entire cemetery.

Please bring a 3/8" rod or large straight blade screwdriver to poke the holes in the ground
to assist with the placement and prevent damage to the flags.

Please be there on time, Even though there are 21,000 flags to be placed,
there are always plenty of people to do it, so it goes quite fast.

There will not be refreshments this year.
Please make sure that your Scouts bring water bottles with them.
Please make sure that we remove any trash we bring with us.

Map of Crownsville Cemetery

For answers to questions please contact:

T.J. Furlong, Event Chairman Tjfurlong2@verizon.net

The Capitol District, BAC, BSA

410-923-2637

Superintendent - Crownsville Veterans Cemetery  ---  Provides the Podium

Anne Arundel County Police  ---- Lt. Shannan providing Traffic Control on Sunrise Beach Rd.